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On Thursday, Ribitz Bait & Tackle has a new neighbor, Dollar General (DG).

Deirdre Johnson, store manager, said they are excited to bring a new Dollar General to the area.

“I’ve been with Dollar General for about a year now but I’ve been a manager for many years. They promised me this store and I was excited to see it come to fruition,” Johnson said. “I got to watch them from playing bricks to setting up the walls. When the walls were up, we went in, put up all the shelves, and stocked them. So, we’ve been there from the beginning.”

In a unique twist, this Dollar General is in talks to sell alcohol and produce.

“The alcohol is not guaranteed yet but it will depend on the deliberations between Troup County and Dollar General on whether or not they’re going to be permitted to sell alcohol,” Johnson said.

Should the store sell alcohol, it will be Troup County’s first DG that does so.

“I’ve worked for many stores that sold alcohol and it’s kind of a headache. There are time limits when you can’t sell it and you have to accommodate people when they come in and tell them, ‘I’m sorry, we can’t sell this right now’,” Johnson said. “However, being able to provide people with goods and services is part of customer service and a part of the job.”

Johnson said it has been busy in the store’s first few days open.

“I came from a store that was in the middle of nowhere but was really busy for it to be in the middle of nowhere. This store is doing three to four times the amount of business that store was doing,” Johnson said.

Johnson said they held a soft opening on Wednesday before the store opened, where customers were welcome to come in and shop.

“The first few weeks are going to be kind of bumpy, which is expected because we are all getting used to the new store, the new systems and the customers are getting to know us as we are getting to know them,” Johnson said. “We are still very excited to be open and ask that customers please exercise patience while we get the store on a routine.”